say to that? do you want to bet? are you sure you absolutely support todd akin's candidacy? political showdown. president obama and mitt romney hunker down for their high-stakes debate in denver. and bumpy ride. a 10-year-old philadelphia boy is arrested after swiping and then crashing a van. good morning, everyone, i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

and we are going to begin this morning with air scare. suspicion is swirling around american airlines after two flights in three days were returned to new york's jfk airport. the reason? passenger seats came loose on both planes. the first incident occurred on a flight from miami to boston. >> during climb-out, rows, passenger seats row 12d, e and f came loose out of the floor. passengers are unable to sit in that seat. >> well, the federal aviation administration said seating in both planes had recently undergone maintenance. the airline has now grounded eight 757s for reinspection. to politics now where president obama and rival mitt romney will not be campaigning today, opting instead to prep for the first of their three debates tomorrow night in denver.

republicans are hoping it will be a game changer for their nominee. who right now trails the president in every battleground state. nbc's brian mooar joins us from washington with all the details. brian, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. for both campaigns, this first debate brings both challenge and opportunity. as denver gets ready for tomorrow night's first presidential debate, so are the candidates. >> it will be a conversation with the american people that will span almost an entire month. we'll get to describe our respective views. >> reporter: romney is hoping to pick up a few votes with an endorsement from football great john elway. president obama is taking the personal approach to nail down support. >> this is barack obama. >> reporter: and like romney, the president sees this debate as a chance to talk to america. >> it's a choice between two different paths for this country. it's a choice between two fundamentally different visions for our nation. >> reporter: the president has a lead in all nine of the key

battleground states including ohio, which begins early balloting today. >> romney's task is difficult because he has to redefine himself as well as redefining the election. >> reporter: an election only 35 days away but still far from over. and the first debate is on the domestic issues that are defining this election. lynn? >> all right, brian, thanks. elsewhere, the candidates for the u.s. senate in massachusetts, scott brown and elizabeth warren, debated for the second time last night. the two were combative as they staked out opposite positions on issues ranging from job creation to bringing home troops from afghanistan. nbc's david gregory of "meet the press" was the moderator, and they also clashed over brown's claim of partisan independence. >> if he is re-elected, that increases the odds that the republicans will control the senate and that he can block president obama's agenda. >> if you're going to comment on my record, i would at least have

you refer to it -- >> can we -- >> excuse me, excuse me. >> go ahead, senator. >> excuse me, i'm not a student in your classroom. please let me respond. thank you. >> recent polls before the debate showed elizabeth warren with a small lead over scott brown. and last night on "the rachel maddow show," congressman barney frank weighed in on the debate. he explained scott brown's stance and what he believes are inconsistencies in his campaign. >> here's a man who claims he's supportive of a woman's right to choose, who says he believes in legal equality for lgbt people, who believes women should get equal pay for equal work. and the first word out of his mouth on the supreme court justice he prefers is a ranting fervent opponent of all those causes. the other thing that struck me was that scott brown at least a half a dozen times was asked, i'll have an open mind on this. well, i think he is kind of crossing the line from

independence into incoherence, and it's because he understands that if he were to say what he really plans to vote, it would be unattractive to the voters. >> lean forward with "the rachel maddow show" weeknights at 9:00 eastern on msnbc, the place for politics. joyriding may land one philadelphia child in jail. police are preparing to charge the 10-year-old with auto theft. surveillance video there shows the young driver crashing the stolen van right into some parked cars. he did manage to escape but was stopped by a witness and held until police arrived. well, approximately 30 amtrak passengers suffered injuries when a big rig collided with a locomotive in california. the crash caused three cars to derail and pin the truck driver inside his vehicle. according to officials, the semi drove past the rail crossing right into the train.

investigators could not determine why the driver did not stop. four men in mississippi battled a monster and lived to tell the tale. the hunters captured a 40 foot long alligator. bill says it's huge. that's an understatement. it weighs 697 pounds. well, once they hooked the animal, it took them two hours just to get close enough for the fatal shot. the catch is the largest in state history. and finally, fried feuds usually get all the press at the texas state fair, but not on monday. we have a new star, everyone. you can see why. chefs used 635 bags of fritos corn chips, 635 cans of hormel chili and then 580 bags of shredded cheese to make the world's largest frito chili pie. thank you for doing that. it weighed over 1,300 pounds. now for a look at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins who has your weather channel forecast. no joke, i once saw a frito

chili pie where they just threw it inside the bag and you just take a spoon and shovel it out. >> i've never heard of it before. >> where have you been? >> obviously under a rock. >> in your weather cave. welcome. >> you've had it before? >> no, i've just seen it. >> you've just seen it. you didn't want a month-long sodium intake in one bite? good morning, everyone. as far as the weather goes, we have numerous areas of wet weather for the eastern seaboard anywhere from pennsylvania down through west virginia and virginia, the carolinas, down i-95 into florida, everyone n t needs the umbrella. it begins to spread northwards. this storm is bringing warm air with it, kind of humid air. overall just more or less scattered showers. anyone in the middle of the country to the west, it is mild. it is dry. and enjoy it while it lasts. we have some cold air heading your way towards the week's end into the upcoming weekend.

first let me give you a little radar tour. up 81 through virginia, light rain now spreading through pennsylvania. pennsylvania turnpike from pittsburgh to about harrisonburg will be a wet ride. and numerous areas in west virginia also dealing with showers. further south, we had a couple lightning strikes near anderson. far south carolina goes, hit-and-miss showers right now around columbia. you see the lightning strikes there in eastern north carolina. from atlantic beach all the way down through havelock. from south to north from tampa down to miami. hit-and-miss showers and storms today. here's your forecast. enjoy the warmth while it lasts is really the bottom line. 80 in montana. could be the last time you see that until next spring, 71 in minneapolis. mild on the eastern seaboard with hit-and-miss showers and storms. the changes coming to the northern plains will get everyone's attention. it's going to be a little

chilly. >> change is a coming. coming up, manufacturing grows. a salmonella scare spreads. and a dreamliner lands somewhere under a rainbow. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. plus, a sweet victory as first lady michelle obama and ann romney go spatula to spatula in a presidential cookie bake-off. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ah.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here are some of the top stories making news this morning. now, if the u.s. goes over the so-called fiscal cliff in january, it will cost almost 90% of americans more in taxes for a total of $536 billion. taxes for a typical middle-income family making $40,000 to $64,000 a year could go up by $2,000. and california governor jerry brown signed a bill that would allow 500,000 young

illegal immigrants who qualify for the new federal work permit program to obtain driver's licenses. near hong kong, at least 36 people were killed when a boat filled with holiday partygoers collided with a ferry and sank. it is the deadliest accident there in years. a house in oregon that was sold this summer turns out to have been a meth lab. and there are toxic chemicals there. contamination, 80 times the state limit. the family that bought the foreclosed home as is from the government got sick and now has few options. and the white house is lit up in pink to mark october as breast cancer awareness month. new york's empire state building is also bathed in pink, and even buckingham palace in london got in on the action. they are going pink to support the breast cancer awareness campaign. well, now here's your first look at this morning's dish of "scrambled politics."

a company paid by the republican national committee to register voters is now under investigation for fraud. the company held voter registration drives in 40 different states. "the new york times" reports that if president obama wins the states he's most likely to carry on election day, there is a chance of a 269-269 electoral college tie with mitt romney. in that case, the house would decide the election, which could go to romney. in michigan, cars were backed up almost half a mile to buy gasoline at $1.84 per gallon. that's the price in 2008 before president obama became president. karl rove's group, the americans for prosperity super pac, paid the station to run the cheap gas promotion as an anti-obama stunt. actor leonardo dicaprio and other celebrities are using their star power to encourage young people to vote. they've launched "vote 4 stuff," a campaign that advocates using social media to express which

issues people want discussed in the presidential election. president obama's campaign is organizing a massive effort to host more than 3,200 debate watch parties wednesday night. politico reports the campaign also hopes to recruit volunteers to help get out the vote in november. and mitt romney's wife, ann, went head to head with first lady michelle obama in "family circle" magazine's 2012 presidential cookie bake-off. well, it was a very close vote between the two candidates' wives, but the winner is michelle obama's white and dark chocolate chip cookies. by only three percentage points over ann romney's m&m cookies. and that's your morning dish of "scrambled politics." and now here's your first look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,515 after adding 77 points yesterday. the s&p was up 3, but the nasdaq lost 2. taking a look at overseas

trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 10 points while in hong kong, the hang seng was closed again for a holiday. well, stocks ended mostly in the black monday thanks to a glimmer of economic optimism. news that manufacturing growth broke a four-month roadblock sparked an upbeat mood on the street. fed chief ben bernanke renewed the central bank's pledge to keep record low interest rates to spur the economy, even after it regains momentum. analysts say winter holiday shopping will rise 4.1% this year. that's slightly lower than predictions for the past two years. jpmorgan chase is the first target of a justice department investigation into the financial crisis. a civil lawsuit alleges bear stearns, bought by jpmorgan in a fire sale, carried out billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities fraud. american express has agreed to pay $112.5 million to settle federal charges of illegal late fees.

the multibillion-dollar fraud carried out by bernard madoff began as far back as the early 1970s. that's according to a rewritten indictment bringing new charges against four longtime madoff employees. a trader joe's peanut butter recall linked to cases of salmonella has now spread to nut butter recalls at multiple national chains including whole foods, target and stop 'n shop. honda is recalling 3,000 accords. congratulations to yahoo!'s marissa mamaier. the new ceo and husband welcomed their first child, a baby boy. in seattle, a watery welcome cast a rainbow for the arrival of the first boeing 787 dreamliner to land as part of on the pond airways' new daily commercial service from tokyo. you cannot buy that kind of pr. coming up, the tigers

clinch, the yanks come out swinging. plus, it was champagne showers in our nation's capital. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts, more events, more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with the citi card. [ crowd cheering, mouse clicks ] [ male announcer ] w do you turn an entrepreneur's dream...

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who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson. welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. it's time now for a little sports. the seemingly evenly matched chicago bears and dallas cowboys faced off under the monday night lights except the cowboys' offense was no match for chicago's defense.

dallas quarterback tony romo threw five interceptions. two were returned for touchdowns. first in the second quarter on a pass intended for dez bryant, look at him go. that's picked by charles tillman and returned for six. and again in the third, just after dallas forced a chicago fumble. romo gives the ball right back to lance briggs who returns it 74 yards for the touchdown. bears won it 34-18. on to baseball. the yankees crushed the red sox 10-2 last night. four yankee homers including a two-run bomb by returning first baseman mark teixeira. it capped off a nine-run second inning. and with an orioles' loss to the rays, the yanks took a one-game lead in the a.l. east. a lot of happy people here today. in kansas city, detroit's miguel cabrera had four hits including a homer during a five-run sixth inning to help the tigers beat the royals 6-3 and claim the a.l. central title. and finally, it's always time for champagne. despite losing to the phillies last night, the nationals still

had reason to celebrate after a loss by the second place atlanta braves secured the club's first-ever n.l. east crown. now for a look at your weather, let's check back in with nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning to you, bill. how's that fantasy football team doing? how was your weekend? >> it's returning. it's 2-2. >> all right. >> you know, it was a rough start to the year, but we're making a comeback. >> i feel like every year that's what you say. i'm not trusting your fantasy skills. >> no, you definitely shouldn't. good morning, everyone. speaking of washington, d.c., looks like this rain is going to skirt the outer beltway. we've got a good shield of rain out here all the way now up into maryland, around frederick to hagerstown, over to winchester on 81. as far as d.c. itself, on the western portion of the beltway, you may get sprinkles. i think downtown will avoid this batch of rain. there will be more later today. have the umbrella definitely with you. as far as the forecast will go for today, eventually some of those showers will work their way up to new york city, even

hartford, albany, but at least the morning drive in those areas should be dry. temperatures are mild today, too. it will get a little more humid as the day goes on in the mid-atlantic to the northeast. perfect in the northern plains. a little windy, a little warm. enjoy it. texas finally is not quite as hot. but the big changes are to come this upcoming weekend. it even looks like the mid-atlantic, ohio valley, a lot of areas will see a big cooldown next week. >> about that time. thanks so much. coming up, who is hosting the oscars? and who's still the queen when it comes to highest paid women? plus, why taylor swift is calling out former flame john mayer. taylor, i feel like i need to give her a dating guide or something. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you are watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪ ♪ introducing a stunning work of technology. ♪

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here's what people are talking about. on saturday night, justin bie r bieber -- justin bieber threw up on stage during the first stop of his concert tour. even weirder, the sound of bieber throwing up just hit number one on the billboard chart. it's pretty good. you can dance to it. >> it's got a beat. >> it's that or "gangnam style." >> tonight jimmy welcomes cnn's anderson cooper, actress gimmer and kendrick lamar. that's tonight on your local nbc station. all right, it's time now for some entertainment news. apparently the kristen stewart cheating scandal has not damaged robert pattinson's stock, thankfully. the star has been named world's sexiest man for the fourth straight year. >> are you going to read it?

>> absolutely. did you doubt? seth mcfarlane is going to be the next host of the oscars. mcfarlane joked he hopes organizers don't find out he hosted charlie sheen's roast. adele is debuting "skyfall" this weekend. 36-year-old drew barrymore who got married in june has given birth to a baby girl named olive. oprah winfrey tops this year's "forbes" list of women, earning $165 million between may 2011 and may 2012. >> is own doing that well? >> well, her magazine. >> everything. taylor swift tells "glamour" magazine her ex, john mayer, is being presumptuous in thinking her song is about him. he thought the song was cheap

and humiliating. >> she doesn't want to admit it was about him, because then she'd be accused of being cruel and mean. i'm lynn berry. this is "first look" on msnbc, but stay tuned "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. five weeks till election day, and one day until the first presidential debate where swing state polls show mitt romney has to start making his move. the question is, will we be talking about a different race when we wake up 48 hours from now? scott brown and elizabeth warren had their second massachusetts senate debate last night with brown drawing heat for his answer on the supreme score the and warren for hers about bipartisanship in the senate. the question is how close is this race? and tony romo connects five times with the chicago bears, throwing one away in dallas. the question is, what was his deal last night? it's "way too early" for this.